This El Nino-Southern Oscillation page does not attempt to cover all available El Nino information. It does, however, attempt to link to sites dealing with the impacts of El Nino, focusing on U.S. weather and extreme weather phenomena.

The mission of the Climate Prediction Center is to maintain a continuous watch on short-term climate fluctuations and to diagnose and predict them. These efforts are designed to assist agencies both inside and outside the federal government in coping with such climate related problems as food supply, energy allocation, and water resources.

This publication from the National Academy of Sciences' Office on Public Understanding of Science surveys basic
scientific studies of the last century that have led to our current understanding of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). It shows how the relatively recent synthesis of atmospheric and oceanographic studies has led to even better understanding and a consequent ability to provide timely warnings that enable preparedness and mitigation.

This site from the NOAA-CIRES Climate Diagnostic Center covers topics such as what happens during an El Nino/La Nina cycle? What are the effects of El Nino/La Nina on climate and individual weather systems? What is the current state of El Nino/La Nina? Also included are FAQs, a glossary, other links and publications, forecasts and advisories, and educational resources.

A site that brings together the latest scientific consensus on La Nina and its impacts. The site emerged from the world's first summit devoted to El Nino's less-studied counterpart. "Review of the Causes and Consequences of Cold Events: A La Nina Summit." This conference was hosted in July 1998 by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and was organized by NCAR senior scientist Michael Glantz with support from the United Nations University (UNU).

This United Nations study asserts that thousands of human casualties and tens of billions of dollars in economic damage will continue to befall the world's
developing countries every two to seven years until an investment is
made to improve forecasting and preparedness against El Nino. The creation of regional organizations to prepare collective responses to El Nino is one of the key recommendations in this study developed by teams of researchers working in 16 countries in Latin America,
Asia, and Africa. The complete text of the study is available in.pdf format; you will need Acrobat to read it.

"A Systems Approach to El Niņo-Southern Oscillation (ENSO): Oceanic, Atmospheric, Societal, Environmental, and Policy Perspectives." Sponsored by NCAR with additional support from NOAA, the colloquium examined the causes, effects, and implications of ENSO and the various roles ENSO plays in the global climate system.

The El Niņo Outlook statement has been prepared as a collaborative effort between the World Meteorological Organization and the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI) as a contribution to the United Nations Interagency Task Force on Natural Disaster Reduction.